The day in Rome on the WTA courts began with the Japanese World Number one, Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the quarterfinals at Italian Open 2019 due to injury in her right hand, however, a jam-packed Pietrangeli witnessed the former World Number ones, Victoria Azarenka and Karolina Pliskova battling for a place in the semifinals at the Rome Masters 2019.

The Czech, Karolina Pliskova collected her 500th WTA win at the Rome Masters 2019 after dispatching Azarenka 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

In the first set, Pliskova took a 4-1 lead but Azarenka once again fought back and brought the set to 5-5. And later, the set was extended into the tiebreaker. Azarenka was dominant with her groundstrokes in the tiebreaker and Pliskova was being witty with her returns. The Czech double-faulted on Azarenka’s set point and in due course, she dropped the set.

Victoria Azarenka

World Number seven, Karolina Pliskova was pretty authoritative in the second set. She held the opening break and kept it intact. Pliskova was playing some baseline tennis and outplayed the Belarusian in the second set.

In the third set, Victoria Azarenka committed a double fault on her break point and then eventually Karolina Pliskova consolidated to take a 3-1 lead in the decider. After an error-strewn opening set, she ameliorated her serves and groundstrokes and disappointed the Belarusian. Karolina Pliskova made just ten unforced errors in the last two sets.

She was patient in the second and the third sets and served well, also Azarenka’s fatigue turned out to be an advantage for Pliskova.

Karolina Pliskova

Before this match, Azarenka played a rollercoaster match against Elina Svitolina and she dethroned the two-time defending champion magnificently. And with her win over Garibine Muguruza yesterday, Victoria Azarenka collected 500 wins on the WTA tour. Karolina Pliskova eliminated Sofia Kenin in three sets in her previous round.